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Bitter Pill(s) - Coming Soon

June 15, 2009 1:38 PM ET

Barrie Hardymon

I've always had empathy for Medea — one of the reasons Euripedes' play has lasted so long (431 BC!) is that it's more than a vengeance fantasy, it's a bitterness tragedy. Everyone knows someone who's been pickled in their own resentment; though, luckily, most of us don't know very many who've been brought past sanity's edge. That high level of resentment and bitterness is apparently so very common, that some psychiatrists recommending it be classified as an actual mental illness in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) — under the name "post-traumatic embitterment disorder." Its inclusion is being hotly debated over at the Psychology Today website, in two blog entries — for and against. It's worth checking out — on one hand, are we classifying something that's within the range of normal behavior as disordered? But on the other, can bitterness have soul destroying, quality of life impairing effects? Check out both entries: and see what you think.